Amanda Young and Mark Hoffman, True romance
by Helen Young
Summary: Amanda Young and Dectetive Hoffman's true feelings for other.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Detective Hoffman walked through the large warehouse, looking at various designs of contraptions that John and Amanda had put together. It was hard for him to figure out which drawings were Amanda's, and which were John's. They both drew with such detail and creativity.

Hoffman walked to the other end of the warehouse and through the curtain to Amanda's room. Her room was small, like a janitor's closet. There was a bed, a dresser, and a small trunks.

Hoffman reached down and picked up Amanda's pillow. He looked at it a moment, then brought it up to his nose and inhaled deeply. The pillow smelled of Amanda. A mix of her perfume and shampoo. He loved the smell of her. It was a strange scent. The kind you can't put your finger on. A mix of so many fragrances that all smelled so good, it was hard to resist.

He wished Amanda were with him. She smelled much better in person versus through a pillow. Hoffman hated when Amanda ran arrends for John. He hoped she wouldn't be gone long.

He replaced the pillow on her bed and opened a random dresser drawer. He found Amanda's t-shirts. Closing it, he began opening another when something caught his eye. Underneath Amanda's bed was a small metal box. He picked it up, it was locked.

_Amanda must have the key with her._ Hoffman thought.

"What are you doing, asshole?" someone asked. Hoffman jumped. Amanda leaned against the doorway, holding the curtain aside. Hoffman stared in shock for a moment.

"I-I didn't hear you com in." he said. She walked forward and took the box from him. She opened the small trunk and placed the box inside.

"What did John need you to do?" Hoff man asked. He watched her closely as she picked up a comb and brushed her long hair.

"John wanted information on Detective Kerry." she replied.

"Detective Kerry? What for? Is she next?" Amanda nodded. Hoffman stood up and walked the small two feet over to her. Her big brown eyes gazed up into his.

"Where's John?" Hoffman asked, inching his face towards hers.

"Sleeping." she replied as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His lips touched hers softly. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.

_You can not become emotionally attached to _anyone. John's words echoed in his head.

_Fuck off._ He thought back. How could he stop feeling the way he did about Amanda? At first he could have pushed her away, but now, now it was too late.

His mind wandered back to the day he'd first met Amanda.

Her hair was short then, her face more innocent looking. She was small, but smart. John had introduced them one day while he worked on a trap for a man named Paul. Amanda was the only known survivor of John's game, and he'd apparently became her father figure. Hoffman had hated her. He hated her face, her hair, her smile, her cockiness, her attitude. Everything he found attractive about her now.

Somehow over the course of six months, she inched her way into his life. John caught on about four months in and reminded him not to get emotionally attached to anyone.

He tried hard to push Amanda away, but she came back. She always did. By the fifth month they became all too careful around John, pretending to hate each other. By the sixth month there was no turning back.

Suddenly there was a strange beeping sound. Hoffman jumped back to the present. Amanda was backed against the wall, her nails dug into his back. His hands had crept up her sides and under her shirt.

Amanda unwrapped her arms and clicked a button on her watch. She looked up at him.

"John needs his medicine." She said. She turned and to walk away and Hoffman grabbed her around the waist. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

"What are you doing, asshole?" she asked, trying to break free. Holding her with one arm Hoffman reached up and brushed her hair behind her shoulder. He kissed her neck softly, then let her go.

He followed her to John's room. John was hooked up to a monitor and surrounded by loads of complicated medical equipment.

Amanda touched John's arm softly and he opened his eyes. She held a glass of water to him and he took a sip from the straw.

"How's your head?" she asked.

"Fine thank you, Amanda." she smiled to him. Hoffman never did understand their connection. Amanda idolized John; but he wasn't exactly sure what made him attached to her.

"Detective Hoffman," John said. "Amanda, could you excuse us a moment." Amanda nodded. She handed John two small white tablets and a glass of water. He took his medicine and she placed the glass on the counter and left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Amanda walked back to the warehouse. She wandered around mindlessly, running her hands over the papers spread out over the tables.

She went to her room and opened her trunk. She took the key from her neck and the metal box and sat down on her bed. She opened the box and peered at the contents inside.

"_You will give everything to me._" Amanda breathed heavily. "_Every cell in your body._" She did. She gave John everything. Everything she could.

She heard footsteps and shoved the box under her bed. She stood up as Hoffman pulled the curtain back and leaned against the wall. He smiled.

"John fell back asleep." he said.

"Good," she avoided eye contact with him. She concentrated on a small droplet of red blood on the floor.

"Amanda?" Hoffman asked. He grabbed her arms. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah." Amanda replied, looking at him. She reached up and stroked his cheek. She walked around him and got back to work on a trap they were designing. It attached to a person's ribs, and if they could not retrieve the key in time, the arms would snap, tearing the ribs. Hoffman watched her intently from across the table. She pretended to be concentrating, but her mind wandered. She remembered when she used to be a junkie. Her only care in life was to have drugs, and using them.

"Amanda?" Hoffman pulled her back to the present. He was standing next to her now. She smiled to him. He leaned down and pecked her on the lips. She gently pushed him away. She wandered around, pretending to look for something. Hoffman followed closely behind, watching he greedily. She stopped suddenly, causing Hoffman to run into her. Her stomach flipped and she felt something wrong.

"Something's wrong," she said. She grabbed an ax sitting on a nearby table and took off towards John's room. Hoffman followed closely, hand on his gun. Hoffman went into John's room while Amanda went into another part of the warehouse.

There was a man digging through a pile of things in the corner. He had long, shaggy, filthy, brown hair. He wore an overcoat that was too long and a black stocking cap. Amanda figured that he was some homeless man who had wandered in.

"Hey!" Amanda yelled. The man got up. He had a small knife in his hand; he held it out as he charged at Amanda. She swung the ax but he dodged. He slapped her and she stumbled, the ax flew out of her hand. The man backed her against the wall, knife at her throat.

Amanda kicked the back of his leg and he fell. Amanda ran for the ax and he grabbed her leg. She hit the ground hard. The man pinned his her on the ground and put the knife to her throat again. The knife dug into her throat and she cried out in pain. He opened his mouth to speak when a loud bang echoed in the room.

The man's forehead dripped from the gunshot wound and he tumbled to the ground next to her. Detective Hoffman pulled Amanda to her feet and looked her over. Her face was filled with shock.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Amanda nodded, breathing heavily. Hoffman walked around her and knelt down next to the man. He placed to fingers on the man's neck.

"He's dead." Hoffman stated. Amanda relaxed a little. She turned and hurried to John's room. John let out a small sigh of relief when he saw her.

"Amanda, is everything alright?" John asked.

"Some homeless guy got in," she explained. "Hoffman shot him." John's look became grave.

"He was threatening Amanda." Hoffman said, appearing in the doorway. "He has a knife." John seemed to except that.

"I could've handled it." Amanda told Hoffman.

"Oh, yeah? Was getting you throat slit just a minor setback?" Hoffman teased.

"I was just about to push him off."

"Why can't you just say thank you and move on with your life?" Hoffman countered.

"You're such an ass." Amanda replied.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hoffman stayed late that night. Later than usual. He cleaned up the mess from the homeless man and disposed of him in a dumpster outside. John was resting again and Amanda passed out on her bed.

Hoffman peered into John's room. Seeing he was alright and still resting, he retreated to Amanda's room. She laid on her bed asleep. Still fully clothed, make-up and hair perfect. He took her thin blanket and covered her up. She breathed deeply. Her face was peaceful, and she was smiling. Hoffman walked out to the warehouse, grabbed a chair, and brought it back to her room. He sat and watched her sleep for a little while.

"Mark," she mumbled his name. he smiled and rested his head against the dresser behind him. Soon he drifted off.

When he woke up, Amanda was gone. Her blanket was on his lap and a note was left on her bed. He picked it up, and in Amanda's messy handwriting, it read:

"**Get out of my room and if I catch you watching me sleep again, you'll be breathing through a tube for the rest of your life, Fucker."**

he laughed to himself. He stood up and placed the blanket back on Amanda's bed. He rubbed his sore neck as he went to John's room.

"Mark, I didn't expect you until later this afternoon." John said. He obviously didn't know Hoffman had spent the night, and he planned to keep it that way.

"I had nothing else to do." Hoffman replied. "Where's Amanda?" John gave him a strange look.

"She's running some errands for me." John said.

_No shit_ Hoffman thought. Then his cell phone rang. He left John's room, the caller ID read Detective Erikson.

"Hello?"

"Mark, great. I finally got a hold of you." Erikson said. "We think we have a lead on Jigsaw's accomplice, Amanda Young." Hoffman froze.

"We have men on patrol of her now. We think she's at the hospital to get more drugs." Erikson explained.

"I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and went back to John's room.

"Amanda's at the hospital, isn't she?" Hoffman asked him frantically. John only stared at him confused. "Dammit John! Is that where she is or not?"

"Mark, calm down." John said.

"The fucking police are after her John! This isn't a game! If they try to take her in she's gonna fight, you know damn well that she will!"

"Mark, please, calm down. Amanda is smart and won't take chances." John said.

"Fuck you!" Hoffman yelled. He turned and ran out of the room, out of the building to his police car. He turned on his sirens and flew down the road. He drove to the hospital as fast as his car would go. He arrived at the hospital where he found three other police cars already there. He hurried inside, gun ready.

"Mark!" Erikson called. "We evacuated the hospital and now we're searching. You arrived just in time." Suddenly a gunshot echoed from the back room. Hoffman took off as fast as he feet would carry him. He got there before the others. One officer held Amanda a gunpoint. She looked scared to death and her eyes begged him for help.

Hoffman raised his gun and shot the officer in the back of the head. He grabbed Amanda's arm and pulled her out of a nearby emergency exit.

"This is the second time I've saved your ass in the last twenty four hours, Amanda!" Hoffman joked as he ran.

"Shut up and run, asshole!" she cried. They ran down an alley and stopped. They both breathed heavily.

"Go," Hoffman said. "I'll meet you back at the building."

"What are you gonna tell them?" Amanda asked.

"I'll make something up." He said. He took her face in his hands. "Don't ever scare me like that again." he kissed her quickly, then went back to the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As soon as Amanda got back to the warehouse she went straight to John's room.

"Amanda, are you alright? Detective Hoffman was worried about you." John said. Amanda blushed a little.

"I had a run in with the police. Hoffman got me outta there, and blah blah blah, I got back here." Amanda explained. She began taking medicines out of the bag she'd been carrying. She handed John his medicine and a glass of water. Once he was finished, he took her hand in his.

"Thank you, Amanda." He said. "Thank you for everything you've been helping me with." Amanda smiled to him. He smiled back, then relaxed and fell asleep. She watched him sleep for a few minutes, then slipped her hand gently out of his. She placed her hands on his shoulders and bent down, touching her cheek to his.

A tear escaped the corner of her eye. She pulled back and left. She sat on her bed and put her face in her hands. More tears escaped her eyes.

"_You will give everything to me."_

"_Don't ever scare me like that again."_

"_Never trust anyone, Amanda."_

"_That's the second time I've saved your ass in the last twenty four hours, Amanda!'_

"_The marks on your arms are from another life. You will leave that life behind."_

So many voices echoed in her head.

"_You're worthless!"_ That was her father.

"_You mean everything to me, now." _Hoffman's voice echoed. Amanda screamed. She walked angrily out to the warehouse. She kicked a leg on one of the tables, it clattered to the ground, sending papers flying everywhere.

She walked to another table. The head of a manican sat there with a strange contraption on it's head. Amanda had more flashbacks.

"_Hello, Amanda."_ John said. Only then she didn't know it was John. To her t was a puppet on a television screen. _"You don't know me, but I know you." _Amanda knelt down in front of the table and rested her head on the side. _"I want to play a game."_ Amanda 's tears splashed against the dirty cement floor.

"Amanda?" Hoffman called as he opened the door. Amanda stood up and leaned against the opposite table. She quickly wiped her tears away.

"Amanda, are you okay?" he asked, walking over to her. She nodded and wiped her eyes again. He put his hands on her hips. "That police offer is dead. Did he shoot at you?" she nodded. Amanda wrapped her arms around her neck and touched her lips to his.

Hoffman leaned her back across the table top and crept his hands under her shirt again. She tangled her fingers in his hair and shifted to a more comfortable position on the metal table.


	5. Chapter 5: John's View

**Chapter 5 ****John's View**

Amanda gave John his medication again as Mark watched from the door. Both of them looked awful. Both sleep deprived and worn out.

"Amanda could you excuse us a moment?" John asked. Amanda nodded and left. Mark came over and stood next to him.

"Mark, I'd like to thank you for protecting Amanda yesterday at the hospital." John said. Mark only nodded. "I can tell that you two have become closer lately. I can't help but wonder if you two haven't become…too close." John questioned.

Amanda is merely a neusence to me. A pain in the ass, nothing more." Mark lied.

"Hmm, alright. You seemed very concerned about her yesterday." John pushed.

"Amanda is smart, as you said. We need her. Nuscence or not." Mark countered. John nodded in understanding.

"Would you please fetch Amanda for me, please?" John asked. Mark nodded. He left and returned a moment later with Amanda.

"Amanda, you and Mark need to work together this time." he said as Amanda came to stand next to him. Both of them look pleasantly surprised. "I need you to fetch Detective Kerry for me. Can you do that?" They both nodded.

"Now you can see how a master does it." Mark joked to Amanda.

"Common, asshole." Amanda said as she left. John didn't miss the quick second they shared a romantic glance, or that Amanda grabbed Mark's hand as she left.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

As soon as they were out of John's view Amanda wrapped her arms around Hoffman's neck again. She looked happy.

"Ready?" she whispered.

"Ready as I'll ever be." He replied, wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her lips softly. Reluctantly they broke free. Amanda went to her room to get something, she had a small hop in her step. Hoffman grabbed the masks they needed. He hated the discusting hog masks. Amanda didn't seem to mind them though. Amanda came back still smiling. He handed Amanda her mask and then they left.

They took the old abandoned convertible that Amanda had hotwired and found an old junkie plate for. At least it looked legit. They figured it too risky to take his police car when they go somewhere and they needed an alternative.

They got to Kerry's apartment building and went it. Amanda put on a pair of sunglasses and brushed her hair over her face with her fingers. She tried to disguise herself do to the fact that her face was all over the news along with John's. Hoffman followed Amanda up two flights of stairs to apartment 225. Amanda picked the lock with a hairclip and they went in.

"You still amaze me." Hoffman said once they were in.

"How so? Is it my amazing skills?" She joked.

"Well, that too." Hoffman replied, watching her greedily.

"Can you focus?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Not when you look like _that_." he smiled. She smiled too. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, took off her sunglasses, and moved the top if her shirt to reveal her bare shoulders.

"Suffer." She taunted him. He frowned. She reached down into her duffle bag and threw a video camera at him. "Start setting up." he walked into Kerry's bedroom. There was a TV as Amanda predicted. He took the cords and began plugging them into the TV.

"Really?" Hoffman jumped. Amanda appeared by his side and pushed him out of her way. "You hooked it up all wrong." she unplugged all the cables and re-plugged them in under twenty seconds. She took the video camera and placed it on the shelf in Kerry's closet. Checking that it worked, which of course it did, they left.

Amanda drove Hoffman back to the warehouse. He wished her luck and she drove off, leaving him behind. He took his car and drove to the police station. He went straight to Erikson's office.

"Ah, Mark. Thanks for coming in.." Erikson said.

"No problem." Hoffman replied. "Has that officer's family been notified yet?" Erikson nodded.

"A funeral will be held on Saturday." Erikson said. "I'd like it if you were there, Mark."

"Of course, sir." Hoffman said. "Where's Kerry?"

"She went home early. Said she felt ill." Erikson informed him. Hoffman's worry grew.

_She's strong._ He reminded himself. _She'll be ok._ He still worried.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

After Detective Kerry was drugged to make her sleep, Amanda cleaned up any sign of struggle. She took her bag and left. Detective Kerry was light enough that Amanda could carry her without _too_ much difficulty. When she arrived back to the building Hoffman had just pulled up in his police car.

"I got her." Amanda said. Her t-shirt was stained with sweat and her make-up ran in streams down her face.

"Hoffman walked to the back door and opened it. He picked up Kerry and carried her inside. Amanda brought John in his wheel car to where Hoffman had already put Detective Kerry into her trap.

"Well done, both of you." John said. Amanda smiled to him.

"Now we wait for her to wake up." Hoffman said.

"Let the game begin." Amanda finished.

**Author note: Sorry this chapter is so short!!!!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Hoffman wandered around the warehouse as Amanda worked. He studied her concentrated face and laughed softly.

He picked up random tools and various parts of incomplete traps. He studied them momentarily, then set them back down. He picked the metal table Amanda had flipped earlier. He replaced the loose papers off the floor and put them on the table when one caught his eyes.

"Amanda," Hoffman said.

"Hmm?" Amanda asked, still concentrated on her work.

"What's this?" He asked, holding up a paper. The design on it looked like Jesus on the cross; only the legs were spread apart and there were metal restraints on the wrists, ankles, stomach, and neck.

"It's part of Jeff's game." Amanda said as she stood next to him. "These parts here will turn these gears, causing the metal restraints to twist the man's arms, legs, and neck to unbearable lengths. John calls it the rack." Hoffman looked at her. She had and evil glint in her eyes and an amused smile tugged at her lips.

"Ouch." Was all Hoffman could say about the design. Amanda laughed.

"No shit." Amanda said, still amused. Amanda went back to her work and Hoffman wandered to John's room. John laid awake on his bed, studying a piece of paper in front of him.

"Mark, I was wondering if you would do something for me." john said, noticing him.

"Yes?"

"On my desk, there is a folder with some information on a detective I'd like you to observe for me." John said. "I believe you know him. His name is Detective Peter Strahm?" Hoffman nodded.

"I know him. He joined the investigation." Hoffman said.

"Good. Keep a close eye on him. He's smart." John said. Hoffman nodded again and left. He went to the small workroom and to John's desk. He took the yellow envelope and opened it. Inside were three different pictures of Strahm. Another sheet held information on him; such as his full name, date of birth, height, weight, and other things. He took the folder and went back to the warehouse.

"I have to leave." he said. Amanda set down her pencil and turned to look at him.

"_Finally!_ Peace and quiet!" she joked. He laughed.

"Hey, I was being quiet!" he said.

"Yes. But your mindless wandering was driving me _insane!_" she countered. He laughed again.

"Well there isn't much to do-"

"I'm sorry. Did you want some toys to play with?" Amanda cut him off. They both laughed. Hoffman leaned over the table across from Amanda.

"Let me help you." Hoffman said. Amanda smiled and leaned across the table too. Their faces were inches apart.

"With what?" Amanda asked. Her minty breath blew across his face like a breeze. "The traps? Keep dreaming." she snapped back from the table and went back to work.

Hoffman walked around the table and stood behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he kissed her neck.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Good-bye, Amanda." He said.

"Bye." She mumbled. Their lips met momentarily, then he was gone. She could still smell his intoxicating cologne, even after he was out of the room.

She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. She sighed and opened her eyes. She picked up a stray wrench from the table and hit it against the palm of her hand. She threw it onto a nearby table where it clashed with the metal.

Amanda went to her room and sat on her bed. Eventually she fell asleep.

When Amanda woke up, she could tell it was late in the day. T was about 3:00. Amanda got up and walked tiredly to John's room. He was resting soundlessly. Amanda took his hand in hers and brought it to her face. She touched her cheek to his hand and was surprised at the temperature difference.

Amanda let go of his hand and sat down in a chair next to his bed. She watched him sleep for awhile before drifting off again.

This time when Amanda woke up it was about 5:30 pm. John lay awake in his bed, looking at her.

"Did you sleep well?" John asked. Amanda nodded, ignoring the knot in her neck. "Did you know you mumble in your sleep?" He asked. Amanda's eyes grew wide.

"Don't worry. Nothing to important. Just something about suffering." John smiled. Amanda remembered that day in Kerry's apartment. She had told Hoffman to, "Suffer" once he got greedy. She hoped she hadn't said anymore.

"I'm sorry." Amanda stood up. "It's time for your medicine." She said. Once John took his pills, she sat back down. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Fair." John replied. Amanda frowned. She stood up and looked at him.

"Is there anything I can do?" Amanda asked. John shook his head.

"Then I'm going to run to the hospital and get some more medicine. We're running low." Amanda said as she left the room.

"Be cautious." John called after her. Amanda went to her room and changed quickly. She brushed her hair, then grabbed her duffle bag and left.

Amanda walked through the alleys and avoided the security cameras as she walked to the hospital.

"Hey you!" Someone called. Amanda turned. Sitting against the alley wall was an older homeless man. He had a long shaggy beard and a dirty trench coat. "Have you seen my brother?" the man asked. His voice was hoarse and soft. Amanda shook her head. The man stood up.

"The name's Skip. My friends call me Skipper." he said.

"Amanda."

"So, Amanda, what's someone like you doin' 'round here?" he asked, taking a step forward.

"Walking," Amanda replied. Skip smiled. His teeth were rotted and most had fallen out. "I'm gonna go now." Amanda turned. Skip grabbed her arm.

"Hey," Amanda yelled as she spun around. "let go of me, fucker." she yanked her arm back.

"Wait!" He said. His eyes begged her. "Please. Please help me find my brother." he pleaded. Amanda sighed.

"He said he wanted to go find some food. He headed to that building over there." he pointed toward the direction from which Amanda just came. "He had a trench coat like this. And a stalking cap." he said. Amanda gave him a look of sympathy.

"He's dead." Amanda told him. The man's eyes widened. "He attacked me. I-"

"You killed him?!" Skip cried. "You murderer!"

"No! I didn't-" Amanda was cut off as he swung a metal pipe at her head. She ducked and he hit the wall.

"Wait! Stop!" Amanda cried. The man kicked the back of her legs and she fell. The lead pipe came down on her stomach. She cried out in pain.

"Take that, Bitch!" Skip yelled at her. He brought the pipe down on her stomach again. Blood filled her mouth and she coughed onto the pavement. She heard the metal pipe clash down next to her. Skip grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to her feet. His fist flew at her face; his knuckles colliding with her cheekbone. She fell to the ground again. He kicked her side.

More blood filled her mouth and she coughed more. She reached her leg out and hit him. He tripped and hit his face against the brick wall. He landed on his knees, blood dripping from his face. Amanda struggled to get to her feet. Then Skip kicked her side again. She coughed up more blood. Skip picked up the pipe again and swung at her. She rolled out of the way. The pipe hit the ground next to her again. There was a small rusty knife laying on the ground behind the garbage can in front of her. She grabbed the knife and rolled onto her back. She stabbed Skip's ankle. He fell to the ground.

"Bitch!" He cried. She reached over and stabbed his stomach. Blood filled his mouth. He coughed onto the pavement too. She stabbed him again. He laid on the ground and looked at her sadly. Amanda cried as she watched the life slip out of his eyes.

She breathed heavily as she used the wall to support her as she stood. Her legs trembled beneath her and she coughed more blood to the blood stained cement.

She leaned against the wall. She slid to a sitting position. She felt faint and rested her head against the wall.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Hoffman unlocked his front door and went in. he flipped on the light and looked around at his empty living room. He had nothing but a sofa and bookshelf, and a TV in the large area.

He closed the door and hung his coat on the hook behind it. He sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV. He left the news on and drifted away into his own thoughts.

"So far no farther victims in the Jigsaw killings." the news woman caught his attention. "Though police have recently discovered that Detective Kerry, who was involved in the Jigsaw case, has gone missing.

"No leads yet on Jigsaw himself, John Kramer; but police believe they have a lead on his accomplice, Amanda Young. The only known survivor of Jigsaw's cruel games." Hoffman turned off the TV. He knew the rest of the story.

It was already 10:30, but he figured Amanda would still be up. He grabbed his coat and went back to his car.

He got to the building and went in. Amanda was turned away from him, and obviously had not heard him come in. he snuck behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Ouch!" Amanda cried. She took his hands and unwrapped them. She turned around and Hoffman saw her right cheek was turning a yellowish color.

"What the fuck happened?" Hoffman cried.

"I was going to the hospital when a man attacked me. He's dead now." Amanda said. Hoffman lifted up the bottom of her shirt just enough to see another yellowish-green bruise forming on her stomach and right side.

"Oh my God! What the _hell_ did he do to you?" Hoffman asked.

"I'm fine." Amanda sad, pulling down her shirt. Hoffman put his hands on her arms. Her big brown eyes looked sad and hurt. He cupped the side of her face without the bruise.

"You should go." Amanda said. "It's late, you have to work tomorrow." She gave him a sympathetic look. He kissed her lips softly. She smiled weakly as he turned and left.

**One Week Later**

Hoffman has his arms wrapped around Amanda's almost healed stomach. Her hands cupped his face as she kissed him. He pressed her against the wall and she moaned, entwining her fingers in his hair. He crept his hands under her shirt and she smiled against his lips. Eventually Amanda's shirt ended up on the floor and Hoffman fingered her skin greedily.

Amanda undid his tie and unbuttoned the first button on his shirt. Hoffman was glad they were in Amanda's bedroom with the red curtain closed. He was even more thankful that John was too ill to get out of his bed.

Hoffman laid back on Amanda's bed and pulled her on top of him. Her hair fell over both of their faces and she smiled as she sat over him. He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. She smiled and kissed him again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Amanda opened her eyes. She was curled up next to Detective Hoffman under her blanket. Hoffman was laying behind her, his arms wrapped around her and his face buried in her hair. Hoffman sat up and leaned on his elbow behind her. She rolled onto her back and looked up at him. They smiled to each other. Hoffman leaned down and kissed her again. Reluctantly Amanda climbed out of her bed and got dressed.

"Would you like me to go give John his medicine while you get ready?" Hoffman asked.

"You can if you want." Amanda replied. Hoffman got up and dressed as well. Suddenly his phone beeped. Hoffman took his phone and walked out to the warehouse. Amanda combed her hair and was putting on make up when Hoffman came back in.

"I have to go." Hoffman said. Amanda smiled sadly. She placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him.

"When will you be back?" She asked. Hoffman put his hands on her arms.

"As soon as I can." He kisses her lips, then left.

Amanda went into John's room and smiled at him.

"How are you?" She asked as she got his medicine.

"Just fine. Thank you, Amanda." He swallowed his medicine and Amanda sat in the chair next to him. John noticed a difference in her. She smiled and had a small hop in her step. He could see a sparkle in her eye and she seemed distant. Off in her own world.

"How is Jeff's game coming?" John asked.

"Just fine. I just need to pt some final touches on the traps; then they'll be ready to be used." Amanda told him.

"Very good, Amanda." She smiled to him.

"Is there anything you need? Anything I could help with?" Amanda asked.

"Not right now. Maybe later." John replied. Amanda smiled to him again, then got up and left. She walked back to her room where Hoffman's tie still laid on the floor. Amanda laughed softly to herself and picked it up.

_Dumb ass._ She thought. She ran her fingers over the silk. She could faintly smell his cologne. Amanda placed the tie on her bed and put her hair into a ponytail. She reached under her bed and pulled out the small metal box with the key still in the hole. She opened the box and gazed at the contents.

"_You will leave that life behind."_ John echoed in her head. She smiled. It had been eight months since she'd done any drugs. She remembered when she used to get drugs. Her friend Cesil helped her. One night they went to the rehab hospital after hours. Jill had been there. Jill….innocent Jill who only wanted to help. Innocent Jill who lost her child when Cesil slammed the door into her stomach. Poor Jill.

Tears fell from Amanda's eyes. She slammed the box shut. Leaving the key in the hole she shoved it back under her bed. She grabbed a small razor blade from her dresser and dug t into her wrist.

Blood ran out and dripped on the floor. After she was done she threw the blade back onto the dresser and watched the blood pool on the floor. After letting her wrist bleed for five minutes, she wrapped it in a bandage and wiped up the blood.


	12. Chapter 12 John's View

**Chapter 12** **John's View**

Amanda came back to his room, her wrist bandaged. She stood next to him and he took her hand in his. He examined her wrist.

"I thought you stopped?" he asked.

"Sorry." She replied. Her eyes looked hurt. "I just remembered-"

"You must forget the past, Amanda." John said. "Forgive what you can't fix." Amanda nodded in understanding.

"Sorry," She said again. "Won't happen again." John rubbed his thumb on the ack of her hand.

"Will Detective Hoffman be back soon?" John asked. Amanda tensed.

"How should I know?" Amanda asked.

"You saw him this morning, didn't you?" John asked. Amanda's face hardened.

"He came by before he went to the station."

"Were you wrestling him? I can smell his cologne all over you."

"That's obviously a sign that he's here too often." Amanda said, taking her hand back. "Excuse me. I have to set up a game."

**Sorry this one's short too! It's kinda just a bonus chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Hoffman looked through some Jigsaw case files to pass the time. He read over everything, checking for clues that anyone might catch onto.

"Um, Detective Hoffman?" Someone asked. Hoffman looked up from his work to see the newly recruited offer standing in the door. It was his first day on the job, and he seemed nervous. "Erickson wants to see you in his office." He said. Hoffman nodded and stood up. Setting the case files on his desk, he followed the new officer to Erickson's office.

"You wanted to see me?" Hoffman asked from the doorway. Erickson looked up at him from his desk.

"Yes. Have a seat, Mark." Erickson said. Hoffman sat in the chair opposite him. "Mark, would please refresh me on what happened that day at the hospital when Officer Baker was shot." Hoffman shifted uncomfortably.

"Well," Hoffman began. "Once I got to the hospital, I heard a gunshot from the back, as everyone did. I hurried back to where they were because I wanted Amanda captured.

"Once I got there, Officer Baker held Amanda and gunpoint. She tried to escape so I shot. But as soon as she moved so did Baker. So instead, I hit him. She escaped out the emergency exit and I went after. After a little while, she disappeared from my site." Hoffman finished. Erickson nodded in understanding.

"Mark, I noticed that you call her Amanda. Why is that?" Erickson asked. Hoffman tensed.

"I know someone named Amanda. This girl I've been seeing." He lied.

"I see. And, Mark, one last question. Why didn't you just shoot her?" Erickson asked.

"I wanted to take her alive. So, maybe she would leer Kramer in." Hoffman explained.

"Having her alive and murdering people is worse than her being dead and only Kramer alive, Mark. I trust you'll remember that in the future?"

"Of course, Sir." Hoffman frowned.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Amanda woke the next morning to see her wrist was bleeding. Blood covered herself and her bed. She felt weak from blood loss.

"Fuck," Amanda moaned. She sat up weakly and wrapped her arm in a new bandage. She quickly changed clothes and striped the sheets off her bed. Though still weak, she went to John's room. He was asleep. She took his hand in hers and watched him rest. He looked troubled, even in his sleep.

Amanda heard the warehouse door open, then close. Letting go of John's hand, she left the room. Hoffman looked concerned when he saw her.

"Why are you so pale?" he asked. Amanda shrugged. He took her arm and looked at the bandage on her wrist. "I thought you stopped?" he mimicked John.

"Sorry," She said. She took her hand back and cupped his face. Hoffman pulled away from her. Amanda gave him a confused look.

"I can't stay long." Hoffman said. "I just need to see John." he walked around her and into John's room. Amanda stood in the same spot, confused. She felt uneasy. Her stomach turned and her head spun. She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. Suddenly she felt dizzy. She opened her eyes again and all she saw were black spots.

She lost her balance and fell. She hit a table which clashed down next to her as she blacked out.

"Amanda? Amanda, wake up." Hoffman's voice was frantic. Amanda moaned. Her head and back hurt. She realized she was laying on the cold cement floor.

"Amanda, can you hear me?" Hoffman asked. Amanda cracked her eyes and smiled.

"Great. Even in my dreams I see your ugly ass face." she joked. Hoffman laughed. He helped her sit up.

"You okay?" Hoffman asked. Amanda nodded, rubbing the back of her head. "What happened?"

"I think I blacked out." Amanda replied. Hoffman looked concerned.

"Maybe I should stay." Hoffman suggested. Amanda felt selfish, but she wanted him to stay. Hoffman helped her off the ground and walked her to her room.

"Where are your sheets?" He asked.

"They're full of blood." She mumbled. Hoffman laid her down on her bed.

"I'll get you new ones." Hoffman said. Amanda smiled, then drifted off.

This time when Amanda woke up she felt back to normal. She had new sheets on her bed, and Hoffman sat in a chair next to her. She smiled to him and he smiled back.

"How are you feeling?" Hoffman asked.

"Much better." She replied. She sat up and he moved onto the bed next to her. He kissed her lips and brushed her hair behind her ear.

"John was worried about you." Hoffman said. Amanda blushed. She leaned against his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her.

After a couple of minutes of just sitting there, they stood up. Hoffman followed Amanda to John's room. John looked slightly relieved to see her.

"You okay?" Amanda asked John. He nodded.

"And you?"

"Never better." She said. John took Amanda's hand in his again. She saw Hoffman tense.

"Amanda, there are some things I need you to do for me." John said. "I need you to go fetch the test subjects for Jeff's game as soon as the game is ready. Take Mark with you. The game begins today." Amanda and Hoffman nodded in understanding.


	15. Chapter 15 John's View

**Chapter 15 John's View**

Amanda pushed John down the hallway in his wheelchair. They walked into the room and saw Hoffman doing something to one of the traps that John had so intelligently named The Rack. Timothy laid sleeping in a wheel borrow next to the door.

"Last minute tweaks?" Amanda asked Hoffman. "Told ya he'd fuck with it." She mumbled to John.

"If you change the gear ratio, you have to change the gear grease to match the increased friction." John explained.

"Maybe you should stick to the heavy lifting." Amanda said. She stopped pushing John for a second. "You need five-weight." She said, throwing something at Hoffman. "It's in the gun." She began pushing John again.

"Check with me next time." John said.

"How many next times are there gonna be?" Hoffman asked.

"However many there needs to be." John replied. Hoffman pushed the wheel borrow with Timothy over to the trap and flipped him onto the floor violently.

"That's a human being." John said sternly. "Do you like how brutality feels, Mark?"

"Let's be honest," Hoffman said. "You want him to suffer just as much as I do." Hoffman turned on the trap to test it. John began coughing and Amanda quickly handed him his oxygen mask. Hoffman turned off the trap and looked at John. John stopped coughing and Amanda shrugged and walked over to Hoffman. She picked up the calking gun and looked at him.

"So when's your test, Detective?" Amanda asked him. The smiled to each other.

"I don't need one." Hoffman replied.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Hoffman grabbed Amanda's arm and indicated the cuts on her wrist. "Because I, didn't take my life for granted."

"You're still dragging your knuckles on the ground." Amanda said. John watched them closely. Their faces were inches apart, and without noticing they had almost wrapped their bodies completely around each other.

"What do you know about life?" Amanda asked. She smiled. Hoffman didn't reply. "Get used to me." Amanda said. "Cause I'm not going anywhere."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Hoffman walked into the warehouse and didn't see Amanda. He was slightly upset, he was looking forward to seeing her. But he knew she was probably out getting Dr. Denlon. He walked into John's room instead. John was sitting up on his bed looking over a few papers.

"Mark, has Amanda arrived back yet?" he asked. Hoffman shook his head, hiding his disappointment. Even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to see her until Lynn Denlon's game was over anyway.

"Mark, I need you to do something." John said. "What I would like you to do is of major importance. It involves the lives of more than just one person. I need you to write a short letter to Amanda, but sign it from yourself." John explained. Hoffman was still confused. " What I'm going to tell you is of grave importance.

"Our soon to be test subject, Lynn Denlon, is Jeff's wife." John said. Hoffman was shocked. "Amanda cannot know this. I want to see if she can pass one last test. This is where you come in.

"Write a note to Amanda telling her that you know about the night Jill lost Gideon. Tell her you know that she was with Cecil. Threaten her that you'll tell me if she doesn't kill Lynn Denlon." Hoffman grew upset.

"You _want_ her to kill someone?" He cried. "I thought you hated murderers!"

"I do." John said sternly. "That is why Amanda must be tested. She is making her games unfair. She isn't giving anyone a chance."

"So, she could die during this, am I correct?"

"Yes." John nodded. "But the choice is her own."

"You want me to help you kill her?!" Hoffman cried.

"I want you to help me _heal_ her."

"I won't do it! I can't!" Hoffman yelled at John.

"Why? Nothing stopped you before. Nothing stopped you from killing Seth Baxter. Nothing stopped you from helping me all the other times." John had a point.

"Amanda is different!" He yelled. He wanted to reach out and punch John. "She idolizes you! Not to mention what she'll do to me!"

"Mark, this is not a debate." John said calmly. "We'll let this game play out. And see what happens. Amanda will make her own choices." Just then the heard the warehouse door close. "Go quickly. Tell Amanda nothing. I'm trusting you with this Mark. Do not fail me."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Hoffman walked out of John's room just as Amanda turned away from Lynn Denlon who was passed out and strapped to a wheelchair. She smiled to him and he forced a smile back. His stomach twisted with the thought of what he had to do. Amanda walked over and put her hands on his chest and looked up at him and smiled.

"Why the long face?" she asked quietly. Hoffman shrugged. She smiled and kissed him softly. "I'm sorry, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a few things to do before _she _wakes up." Amanda said, nodding over her shoulder to Lynn. He cupped her face and kissed her passionately.

"Amanda, you know how much I care about you, right?" He asked. Amanda nodded. "The same way I feel about you." she said, then kissed him again. She smiled, then turned to leave.

_You can't do this! _Hoffman's head screamed.

"Amanda wait!" He called. She stopped and turned around.

"Yes?" She asked. Her voice was seductive and her eyes were leering.

_You promised John you would complete this as _he_ wanted! _

_But you care to much for her!_

Two parts of his brain screamed to him as Amanda watched with her seductive stare.

"I-" Hoffman stopped his sentence.

"_Do not fail me, Mark" _John's words echoed in his head.

"Nevermind." He said shaking his head. She smiled to him then walked out the door. He squeezed his eyes shut and stood still for a minute. He thought about going back on what John had said.

_Screw him!_ he thought. But then he realized that, in a sick twisted way, by betraying John, he was betraying Amanda, too.

Once Hoffman finished his note to Amanda he read over it multiple times, only to hate himself even more for doing it. At first he hesitated before putting the letter into the yellow envelope. He went over multiple ways to keep Amanda from reading his letter.

He thought of hiding the envelope, then he could honestly tell John he'd written it and put it in there. Or he could warn Amanda about the letter; but that'd be going against John. He thought of multiple possibilities. All of them he found a downside to. His final decision was to just let the game play out and hope for the best. Hope for Amanda's safety. Hope that he'd be able to touch her face one last time; caress her hair; feel her lips against his.

After giving himself a moment to regain his control over his emotions, he went back to John's room. Just as he got there he heard the warehouse door open.

_Amanda, get out while you can._ He thought. He considered turning around and destroying the note, but it was too late. He heard Lynn wake up and begin yelling.

"Is it done?" John asked. Hoffman nodded, trying to hide his anger. "Thank you, Mark."

"Amanda _will_ fail you." He said. He was trying to convince John not to go through with this. Trying to make him realize his mistake.

"Let's go." Heard Amanda say from the next room.

"We'll see." John said. Hoffman turned sadly away from John as the wall moved open to a secret passage. He stepped through and silently prayed for Amanda. For John. And even for Lynn Denlon; because as long as she lived, so did the others. The two people he cared for the most.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Let's go." Amanda said to Lynn. Lynn struggled against her restraints as Amanda pushed her in the wheelchair to John's room.

"Who are you? Who are you?!" Lynn cried when she saw John. Amanda jumped at her reactions.

"Hello Dr. Denlon." John said. "You may not remember me, but I most certainly remember you. I was a guest in your hospital once." Amanda held John's cup of water up to his mouth and he took a small drink from the straw.

"Where am I?" Lynn asked.

"Do you remember me?" John asked, ignoring her question. When Lynn looked confused, Amanda threw a file of medical papers onto her lap. Lynn glanced at them, then back at John.

"I've seen you on television." She said. "Lawrence Gordon was your doctor."

"I was his patient, and he was mine." John replied. "As you can see from that report, my prognosis isn't good. Would you agree?" Lynn looked over the papers again.

"There's no preventative treatment for what you have." Lynn said, a hard expression on her face.

"I remember you saying that to me in almost that exact same tone," John told her. "Leave it to a doctor to find such a cold, clinical way of saying I'm a dead man walking. Looking at me how long would you say I have left?"

"I'd have to examine you. Even then a frontal lobe tumor is unpredictable. The growth depends on the rate of mitosis versus hypoptisis, and-"

"I'm sorry. But is all this crude, medical equipment around me causing you to believe that you're still inside the hospital?"

"No." Lynn said sadly, shaking her head.

"Then why are you speaking to me in that graduate school medical jark?" John asked. "Look at me!" John yelled, sitting up on his bed. Lynn screamed out of fear. "Now, you look at me. I asked you a simple question. Based on your experience, how long would you say I have left?"

"It's not a simple answer!" The now quavering Lynn answered. "Based on your file I'd say," She hesitated. "Not long." John coughed and rested back on his pillow.

"Death is a surprise party. Unless of course your already dead on the inside." John said. Amanda flinched.

_He won't die! He _WON'T_!_ She screamed at herself silently. She shook off the subject and walked over with a bowl of water and a washcloth. She gently dabbed John's forehead with the washcloth and smiled to him. She ignored what their conversation was about until Lynn asked what John wanted.

"What do I want?" John repeated her. "I want to play a game." He said. Amanda smiled to him, then turned around. She walked passed Lynn, taking the piece of fabric from around her neck as she did.

"The rules of the game are simple. The consequences for breaking them are great." John explained. "Death." Lynn panicked again. "Your being tested. Your will, is being tested. Your will to keep someone alive. Can you do that? Can you follow the rules and grant someone the gift of life?

"What is this?" Lynn cried as Amanda placed the trap on her neck. "What is this?!" She panicked. "What are you doing to me?!"

John explained the contraption as Amanda grabbed the key off of a hook on the wall and placed it around her neck.

"Please, please. Don't do this to me." Lynn begged. "I have a family. I have a family." Amanda bent down to Lynn.

"Let me give you the simple version." She said. "You will keep him alive, whatever it takes. No excuses. No equivications. No crying."

"What do you mean, 'Keep him alive?'" Lynn asked. Amanda rolled her eyes. She grabbed Lynn's hair and turned her head violently so Lynn could see out the door.

"Out there, on those screens, we have another test subject. A man." Amanda said. "He will face a series of tests." Amanda set the collar into operative mode. "You have to keep John alive, until he makes it through. If he completes all of his tests, and John is still breathing, I will remove your collar, and you're free to go."

"You're a vital piece of my puzzle, Dr. Denlon. A critical part of what could be my final test." Amanda flinched slightly again. "Amanda, it's time, to start our game."


	19. Chapter 19: Lynn's View

**Chapter 19 ****Lynn's View**

"Alright John, I need you to look at my nose." Lynn told him. "Right here, look at my nose please. Follow my flashlight." She moved the small flashlight back and forth in front of his face. "Tell me if you feel any pain, alright?" She placed her thumbs on his forehead and put slight pressure on his head. He grunted. "That hurt?" As she took his pulse, Amanda said something to John. Then Amanda walked over and stood across from her.

"So?" She asked.

"My twenty second analisis with out any medical equipment is that his brain's herniating." Lynn answered.

"Oh." Amanda said in a mocking tone that Lynn hated.

"He needs to go to the hospital to have an operation to decompress his brain." Lynn told her. Amanda smiled.

"Come here." Amanda whisper, leaning closer. "No, really come here."

"No," Lynn said, knowing Amanda would probably hurt her.

"Lemme ask you something." Amanda said. Lynn sighed and leaned over John to Amanda. Amanda slapped her across the face and then grabbed her by her hair.

"Oh, God!" Lynn whispered fiercely.

"Did I bring John to you?" Amanda whispered in her ear. "Or did I bring your self-centered ass to him? Now you better start fucking paying attention. No one's going to any hospital." She let Lynn go and both of them struggled to calm themselves down.

"I can't perform miracles." Lynn said. "You're giving him pain killers. For a tumor like this he needs steroids, pregnasone!"

"Oh, good, yeah." Amanda said, grabbing a book that said _Medical Dictionary Volume 4_. "Maybe we could try some corticose steroids, like dexamethasone!"

_What the hell am I here for if she know this shit already?_ Lynn thought.

"Why don't you fucking tell me something that a don't know, you stupid Cunt!" Amanda yelled, throwing the book on the floor. Lynn's temper rose.

"The only place, he can't get those drugs, is in a hospital." Lynn said calmly. "Or else he's gonna die." Lynn saw Amanda flinch a little.

"You are _not_ a good listener." Amanda said with a smile as Lynn sat down in a nearby chair. "I think you missed the part, that if _he_ dies, _you _die."

"You're asking me to do the impossible." Lynn said.

_Will this bitch ever shut up?_ Lynn thought to herself.

"I'm not asking you. _He_ is. _He _chose you." Amanda said. She shook a nearby tray violently, causing Lynn to jump. "Not me!"

"Amanda," John said sternly. "Our doctor can not do what she is being asked of her, if you're threatening her. The rules of our game have been made very clear. You need to abide by those rules."

"Sorry," Amanda said softly.

Then John's heart rate monitor began beeping rapidly as he sat up and vomited onto the floor. Lynn rushed over to him and held his face to the side.

"Amanda, Amanda, I need your help!" Lynn yelled. Amanda stood with a petrified look on her face as though she might vomit herself. "Amanda, he needs oxygen! Oxygen, Amanda!" Then Amanda was by his side, placing the mask on his face.

"Now I need you to hold him down! Keep his face to the side, you got it?" She instructed. Amanda nodded. Lynn took off and began looking through all of the doors and cabinets in the room. Then Amanda screamed.

"What are you doing?!" She cried.

"Adovan! Do you have Adovan?" Lynn asked.

"NO!" Lynn gave up and ran back to John with a washcloth.

"Back off, back off!" She told Amanda. "Back off, back off!" Amanda let go of John and stepped back. She took the mask off of his face and wiped the blood from his mouth. She heard Amanda crying. "Stay with me John!" Lynn said. "You're almost through this! Stay with me, John." She looked at the monitor. "Stay with me, John. You're almost through this." Finally, it was over. John rested back on his pillow and breathed heavily and the crying Amanda walked out the door to the warehouse. Lynn followed Amanda out of the room as soon as John calmed down.

"Was that enough for you?!" Lynn asked Amanda. "Are you ready to go to the hospital now?" Amanda didn't answer. Though Amanda was the one who'd brought her here, who was forcing her to do this, she still felt bad for her. She sighed. "He needs to have an operation." Lynn said calmly.

"Okay," Amanda said. Lynn sighed in relief. "But we do it here. We do it here."

"Wha- what?"

"What do you need?" Amanda asked.

"I-I need antistatic for a procedure like this."

"Antistatic, what else?"

"Even with an antistatic-"

"Antistatic, what else?!" Amanda yelled. Lynn sighed.

"A power drill."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Hoffman barely listened to anything anyone was talking about. They had _finally_ figured out where Kerry was. _Took them long enough_ Hoffman thought. He'd just met some other special agent, Lindsey Perez. He already knew Peter Strahm, but that's because he had to do some research on him for John.

"The lock was open. She couldn't get out." Perez said.

"It was constructed for her execution. It betrayed the rules" Hoffman told them.

"Not a jigsaw trap then." Perez said.

"No. Amanda Young the accomplice,-"

"This wasn't done by Amanda Young." Strahm cut him off.

"Excuse me?"

"Detective Kerry weighed approxametly 130 pounds. Amanda Young's arrest report has her at 107. She couldn't get her up there alone." Strahm explained.

_She's stronger than you think! _Hoffman screamed at Strahm in his own head.

"John Kramer was-"

"A cancer patient. He's brains, not brawn."

"He was also an engineer." Hoffman was starting to get pissed off. "He could've-"

"Someone else could've helped him."

"Special Agent, if you're here for any other reason than just to assist,"

"We're here to find the person your department couldn't. The one helping Jigsaw and Amanda Young." With that Strahm left. Hoffman's mind wandered to Amanda again.

_She's okay._ He told himself. _She's stronger than she looks. And smarter. _


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Amanda came back to find Lynn snooping around the warehouse. Amanda watched as she was looking at the reverse bear trap and memories flooded her mind. She leaned against the wall and watched Lynn reach for a phone on a different table.

_It doesn't work, Dummy. _Amanda thought. _Why would he have a phone in here? To order pizza?_

Lynn screamed and jumped back when the reverse bear trap snapped. Amanda choked back a laugh. Lynn turned around and saw Amanda and jumped again.

"Amanda, if you really care about John, you won't let me do this to him." Lynn said. Amanda just stood with a smile on her face. "You're a smart woman, and you know what's right for him."

"I'm sorry." Amanda said. "I know it's hard to concentrate when you're surrounded by so many things you could kill me with. Like this ax I saw you lookin' at." Amanda picked up an ax from a nearby table and held it out to Lynn. "Take it, please, it's yours." Lynn starred at her as if to say, 'Are you insane?' "Come on." Amanda persuaded her. Lynn took the ax and looked at her. Amanda turned around with her hands in the air.

"I'd go for the neck, but I'm not the brain surgeon." She knew Lynn was hesitating. "Just do it quietly so John doesn't hear me die." She smiled to herself. "Otherwise he's likely to get upset, rip off his heart rate monitor. Boom." She felt Lynn's breathing become uneven and she tried not to laugh.

"Then you just have to find the senor and disarm it, so you can walk more than thirty feet out that door without the collar detonating." Amanda continued. "_Or_, you could try an take the collar off yourself. Mm, that could be tricky. Slightest knock in the wrong place, could trigger it." She turned and gave Lynn her best cocky smile.

"I should know, I built it." Lynn gave Amanda a sad look. Amanda took the ax from her and put it back on the table. She leaned against the wall and looked at her again.

"So, do you have everything you need?" Amanda asked.

"I have the instruments to cut someone open," Lynn said. "But I _don't_ have the tools to save a life."

"You'd be surprised what tools can save a life." Amanda replied. She bent down and picked up the reverse bear trap and put it on the counter. Once Lynn went back to John's room, Amanda sat down on her bed.

"_Hello, Amanda. You don't know me, but I most certainly know you." _That's what John told her during her game. _"There is only one key to open the device. It's in the stomach of your dead cellmate. Look around, Amanda and know that I am not playing. Live or die. Make your choice." _

"_Congratulations, you are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Now anymore." _John's words echoed to her as if he'd just said them five minutes ago. She couldn't forget that day. Never.

She walked into John's room and sat down in a chair by the door.

"He made it through the freezer room," She said. "He tried to save her." She found herself crying. She got up and sat in a chair closer to John's. She longed for his closeness.

"There are somethings that I need you to do for me." John said. "In my desk…in the center drawer. An envelope, with your name on it."

"She's gonna do a procedure on you." Amanda explained. "Release the pressure on your brain, help with the headaches." Amanda leaned back in her chair and put her hand over her face. "I can't do this." She cried.

"Amanda… you can. You can." John said. "You're stronger now. And I believe in you." Amanda tried to smile to him. She tried to stay strong. And she knew her main concern was John. But she couldn't help but wish Hoffman were with her. She wished he were there. He was always strong, like a rock. He could've helped her through this. But part of her wanted him to stay away. Possibly so he wouldn't see her cry.

"You chose her cause she's the best right?" Amanda asked sadly.

"That's one reason I chose her." John replied with a smile.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22 **

Amanda walked into John's room. Lynn was combing back John's hair.

"He made it through the second test," Amanda told him. "the judge is alive."

"Faster than I expected." John replied with a smile. Amanda nodded.

"Okay John, I need you to keep your head to the side and keep still." Lynn instructed. "What's going on here is that your brain is pushing against your skull. I'm gonna remove the pressure, by cutting away part of your skull. This should help with the headaches, and drastically improve your motor skills. Do you understand?"

"All to well." John replied. Amanda gave him a comforting smile. She kept her eyes on John until Lynn gave him and injection.

"Are you gonna give him a general antistatic?" Amanda asked.

"For a procedure like this the patient needs to be fully alert." Lynn replied. Lynn picked up a tool from the tray next to her and looked at John's monitor. Her hand shook as she was ready to cut. She panicked and set the tool back down. Amanda and John smiled in amusement. Lynn picked up the tool and cut into the skin. Blood ran down the side of John's head and Amanda looked away.

_I'm sorry John, but I can't see this. _Amanda thought.

"Amanda, I need you here." Lynn said as she dabbed away the blood from John's head.

_Hell no! _Amanda thought. She sighed.

"Amanda!" Lynn called.

_It's for John, it's for John, it's for John. _Amanda told herself as she walked around John's bed.

"You're gonna feel some pressure." Lynn told him as she grabbed onto his skin on his head. Amanda looked away and tried to keep herself from vomiting. When she looked back Lynn had placed some clamps on John's bleeding forehead. His white skull was clearly visible.

"Fill that syringe with alcohol from that bowl." Lynn told Amanda. She obeyed. Lynn took the syringe and sprayed it onto John's skull. Amanda handed Lynn a washcloth and looked away.

"Alright John, I need you to keep your mouth closed. You're gonna hear some noise." Lynn said as she reached for the drill.

"Oh God," Amanda gasped under her breath as she looked away. Part of Amanda wanted to look away as Lynn drilled four holes into John's skull. But part of her wanted to watch and make sure John was okay.

"John, how ya doin'?" Lynn asked after the fourth hole was drilled.

"Never better." John said. Amanda smiled a little. Lynn picked up another tool and flipped it on. It sounded like a drill that a dentist would use. Amanda flinched at the noise. So did Lynn.

"Alright, you're gonna hear a lot of ringing." Lynn said to John. "I need you to stay _very_ still." Lynn turned on the drill and placed onto John's skull. It began to cut in and Amanda quickly looked away. Amanda felt herself start crying. She tried to not look but at the slightest change in noise her eyes would shoot back to John to make sure he was okay. Lynn had blood splattered all over her face as she set the tool back down.

"Okay, John, I'm gonna remove the skull." Lynn said. Amanda tried to look away but couldn't. Amanda tried not to vomit as Lynn took off the piece of skull. Lynn cut away a thin layer of _something _to reveal John's brain. Amanda tightened her lips to keep from throwing up. A tear ran down Amanda's face.

"John, I need you to raise your hand, and flex your fingers." Lynn said. John raised his hand. His fingers twitched and his hand fell back down.

"John? John, raise your hand." Lynn instructed. "John can you hear me?" Lynn panicked. Amanda's breathing became uneven.

_No, oh God, no! _Amanda's head screamed.

"What's happening?!" Amanda cried.

"John!" Lynn ran around the bed.

"What's happening to him?!" Amanda screamed again. "What's happening?! What's wrong?!" More tears ran down Amanda face. "What's wrong?! Why isn't he moving?!"

_Please God, please! _She begged. _John, don't leave me! _

"Do something!" Amanda screamed to Lynn. "Please!"

"Stay with me, John!" Lynn yelled as she held the oxygen mask over his face.

_Please! I'll do anything! _

"Breath!" Lynn yelled. "Breath, dammit!" She took the oxygen mask off and John leaned closer to her. "Breath, John."

"I love…." John gasped.

"What?" Lynn asked. John put his hand on her arm and Lynn gave Amanda an apologetic look.

"I love you." John mumbled.

_No! No you don't! _She wanted to scream at John. She felt jealous. She wanted John to say he loved her. Even though she had Hoffman, she loved John too. Lynn continued to look at Amanda, a sorrowful look on her face. Amanda hated her.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Amanda still had tears running down her cheeks as she walked quickly to her room. She pulled the metal box out from under her blanket and opened it. She unrolled the red cloth and placed it onto her bed. She took out everything she needed and placed them neatly on the red cloth. She breathed heavily.

She stopped and thought for a second, more tears escaping her eyes.

"_You will give everything to me. Every cell in your body. Is that understood?"_

"_Yes." _

"_The marks on your arms, they're from another life. You'll leave that life behind. When you go down that corridor, there is no turning back, do you understand that?"_

She had hesitated. Why had she hesitated?

"_Yes." _

"_Then start with this. Go." _She had turned around and smiled to him. Thankful that she had found him. At the moment she silently swore to herself that she would from that point on do as John asked. She would follow his lead and ask no questions. She would give her life for his if she had to. And she would always do as he asked. Something that only made sense to her. Not even Mark Hoffman understood.

She pushed everything off her bed, angry at herself.

"_Who's in there?" _She remembered Adam's voice. The voice that had called her 'Rockstar'.

"_I'll kill you, ya motherfucker!" _He flashed his camera, giving him vision only momentarily. The camera he's taken her picture with earlier. She'd felt horrible after injecting him. But she reminded herself it was for John. That's how she'd gotten through it. That's how she gotten through a lot of things.

Amanda got up and walked out to the sink and grabbed her knife. She walked back to her room and unbuttoned her pants. She pulled her pants down and sat on her bed. She took a deep breath before digging the knife into her thigh where four other marks currently were located.

She remembered knocking on the bathroom door after she'd gotten Adam. She opened the door to see that John had finished with his make up.

"_Put his left leg in the shackle." _John told her. She dragged Adam over to the tub and turned on the water. She took Adam's shoes, socks, and his belt. She put his left leg into the shackle and lifted him into the tub.

"_It's time to start our game." _He'd told her. She looked at Adam in the tub and remembered his 'Rockstar' comment.

_Good luck, Adam. _She silently told him as she threw the key onto his stomach. _Good luck from your rockstar._


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Amanda walked into John's room. John was sleeping peacefully and Lynn was looking at some sketches on the wall. She put one of her hands on his leg and on his shoulder. She touched her forehead to his cheek

_Why are you doing this to me? _She thought. _You're killing me, John. _

"He can't here you," Lynn said. "He doesn't even know you're there." Amanda snapped back from John and turned to face Lynn. She walked over to Lynn, hand on her gun. She pushed her against a curtain which slid against the wall. She glared at her.

"Amanda!" John said sternly. "Put is away. Trust me! Put it away." She let go of Lynn and glared angrily over her shoulder to John.

"Leave us alone." He said. "Now!" Amanda walked out of the room, hand still on her gun.

"You fucking freak." She heard Lynn whisper.

Amanda walked out to the warehouse and back to the monitors. She grabbed the first tool she saw and flipped it around in her hand. She held it by her side and tightened her grip in it, causing her hand to bleed.

She remembered going into the bathroom. Lawrence's foot still chained to the pipe. Zep and Xavier laid dead on the floor. Adam sat alone in his corner, still chained. His eyes were closed. She set her light down and walked over to him.

"_Adam?" _She whispered. _"Adam?" _She put her hand under his nose and felt little air coming out. Then he woke up.

"_Here, I'm gonna help you." _She told him as she pulled him away from the wall. _"I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna free you." _She put the plastic bag over his face. He struggled a little, until he realized what was happening. Amanda cried as he tried to free himself. She didn't want his to die. She wanted to really free him.

She snapped back to the present. Her blood dripped onto the floor and she looked at her hand.

_Oops. _Is all she thought.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Amanda walked back into John's room. She widened her eyes. John was holding onto Lynn's hand.

_No, no, no, no! _She screamed in her head.

"We're fine, Amanda." John said. "We don't need you." Amanda's breathing became uneven again.

"I said we're fine." He repeated.

Amanda stormed back out of the room. She walked around, confused and lost.

"_In my desk…in the center drawer. An envelope, with your name on it." _She remembered John telling her. She opened the drawer and there it was. A yellow envelope, her name neatly written on it.

_Something's wrong here. _She thought. _Something's very wrong._ She thought about not opening until Lynn's game was over, but curiosity got the best of her. She opened the envelope. She flipped through a few papers until she found a handwritten note. She recognized it as Hoffman's writing. It read:

**Amanda, **

**You were with Cecil the night Jill lost Gideon. You killed their child. You know it, and I know it, so do exactly as I say. Kill Lynn Denlon, or I will tell John what you did.**

Amanda read over it multiple times, hoping her eyes were lying. Each time she read it, it said the same thing. Her breathing became heavy and uneven. Her heart pumped faster and she felt dizzy.

_No, no, no, no, this can't be happening! _She thought. _He wouldn't do this. He cares about me. _

"_You know how I feel about you right?" _What if that was his way of telling her he _didn't _care about her anymore.

_First John, now Mark? I can't do this….I can't. _He mind was screaming to her. _But what if he tells John? How did he even find out?_

Amanda thought about what she had to do. She could kill Lynn, and lose John. Or she could keep Lynn alive and lose John _and_ Hoffman. She didn't want to lose either of them, but there was no in between. What did she have to live for now anyway? Hoffman didn't want her anymore. And John….she didn't know yet.

Finally she decided what she was going to do. She walked into John's room. She was smiling, but crying inside.

_I'm so sorry, John. _She thought.

"He's completed the third test." She informed him.

"Congratulations, Lynn." John said. "You're free to go." Lynn looked surprised and relieved.

"Yeah, but he's not all the way out yet." Amanda said.

"Undo her collar, Amanda, and let her go." John ordered.

"No, he's not finished. He's not all the way." Amanda argued.

"Amanda, Lynn is more important than you know. Unlock her collar, and let her go."

"I said no." Amanda calked her gun.

"Amanda, there are rules-"

"I said no!" Amanda yelled. "She doesn't deserve to go free!"

"You promised!" Lynn defended herself.

"I didn't promise you shit!" Amanda told her.

"Amanda, even with that gun, it is Lynn, who holds your fate, in her hands." John said.

"Fuck you." Amanda said to John. "You give her control over me? Fuck you!" She kept her gun pointing at Lynn.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise I won't!" Lynn said, she squirmed uncomfortably. "Please! I have a family!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Amanda screamed at her. "And stop fucking moving around!"

"And what about the other test subjects that we left alive?" John asked.

"What about them?"

"Is that how you felt about them?" John asked. "Is that how you felt about Erik Matthews?"

Erik Matthews, the fucking bastard who had put her into prison. The one who'd framed her. He deserved to die.

"Erik Matthews? I'll tell you how I felt about Erik Matthews." Amanda said. "Erik Matthews learned nothing from your test. He was the same person he was, when he framed me! When he took me down!" Amanda remembered when he'd found her in the hallway outside the bathroom. She remembered how he'd repeatedly beat her against the cement wall. She still remembered his voice echoing through the halls as she walked away.

"_You're not Jigsaw, bitch!"_

"That's right," She finally said. "I'm a murderer. He took my life from me, so I just returned the fuckin' favor!"

"No, Amanda, that's what you thought." John said. "But I know different, you left him for dead, didn't you?"

"Stop fucking with me!" Amanda whimpered.

"But I cleaned up your mistakes," John continued. "I forgave you for them." Lynn continued to beg for her life.

"What you do is no different than murder." Amanda countered. "You torture people. You watch them die. And now you're begging me not to kill this worthless bitch, on the grounds of some game?"

"You're walking us towards the precipice, Amanda. Step back." John told her.

"It's bullshit." She said. "Nobody changes. It's all a lie."

"If you fail in this we all fail, succeed and we all succeed."

"It's a lie!" Amanda cried. "I'll tell you, she hasn't changed. Cause nobody fucking changes! Nobody is reborn! It's all bullshit! It's all a fucking lie! And I'm just a pawn in your stupid games." Amanda took a deep breath before saying her next words.

"I don't mean anything to you!"

"No, you mean everything to me."

"Fuck you!" Amanda yelled.

"Our fates are linked." John said calmly. "I've tried to help you, Amanda."

"So help me! Fix me!" She screamed. "Fix me motherfucker!" She was crying. "I'm standin' right here!"

"Why is she so important to you?" Amanda asked.

"She's not important to me." John said honestly. "She important to you."

"She's not important to me." Amanda said.

"I beg you, to reconsider that." John said. His eyes were pleading her. Amanda shook her head. John sighed.

"This is your last chance, Amanda." He said.

"She's nothing." Amanda told him. Lynn had tears rolling down her cheeks, and Amanda felt sorry for her. But only a little.

"Time's running out." John told her. "Now you think about what you're doing. Think about everything that you've done. Think about what you promised me. Think about our dreams. Think about tomorrow." Amanda raised her gun.

"Lynn?"

"Jeff?"

Amanda pulled the trigger. The gunshot rang in her ears as she cried about what she'd just done.

_John, forgive me. _She thought. Lynn fell out the door and into Jeff's arms.

"You just destroyed four lives," John said. "You just murdered Jeff's wife." Amanda widened her eyes. She looked at Jeff who had his gun pointed at her. Before she could react his bullet hit her neck. She fell against the counter behind her. She pulled her hand from her neck, it was covered in blood. She clutched her neck again as she sunk to the ground. John reached his hand out to her.

"Amanda. It's okay." John told her. "This was your test. Your game."

_He knew. _Amanda had finally figured it out. _He told Mark to write that note. _Amanda started crying.

"I was testing you." John continued. "I took you in."

"_You will give everything to me. Every cell in your body." _

"I selected you, for the honor of carrying on my life's work." John said. "But you didn't."

"_That's right. I'm a murderer." _

"You didn't test anyone's will to live." John told her.

"_Game over."_

"Instead you took away their only chance. Your games were unwinnable. Your subjects merely victims.

"_There is no turning back, do you understand that?" _

"In my desperation, I decided to give you one last chance." John explained. "So I put everything in place."

"_You chose her cause she's the best, right?"_

"_That's one reason I chose her."_

"You didn't know that Lynn and Jeff were, husband and wife." John said. "I had to keep that from you, for the purposes of my game. I had to leave out the ruined marriage. The cheating wife. The vengeful husband. The neglected daughter. And I let you, make your own choices. I wanted you to succeed."

"_Amanda, put it away. Trust me."_

"_Even with that gun, it is Lynn, who holds your life, in her hands." _

"_She's not important to me."_

"_I beg you to reconsider that."_

"_Unlock her collar, and let her go."_

"_I said no!" _

"_The rules of our game have been made very clear, you need to abide by those rules."_

"But you couldn't." He finished. Amanda leaned forward, reaching out to John as blood dripped from her mouth.

"Mark…."She tried to gasp. "I…love…..you….."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

"Game over." Hoffman said to Rigg as he closed the door. His mind wasn't in this game, it was in Amanda's. He rushed to the warehouse. He wanted to yell and call out for Amanda, put he knew Strahm was there. He stopped outside John's room and peered in.

Strahm looked around at the dead Jeff on the floor. The dead John on the bed with his throat cut. The dead Lynn in the corner, her face blown to bits. But Hoffman only concentrated on the woman on the floor. The woman he helped kill. Her hair was tied back and he saw a gunshot wound in her neck. He wanted to run to her, like he did his sister. He wanted to kneel down next to her and cry. But this was different than his sister's death. He'd been bracing himself for this one.

But even bracing himself didn't help the hurt. The guilt. Or the emptiness. Instead of running over to her and crying, he slammed the door and locked it. Silently threatening Strahm that if he touched Amanda, he'd personally kill him.

He knew what his goal was. He had to get Strahm into the trap. Then get the little girl. Amanda wouldn't have liked it if he let the detective get away, and let the girl die. He turned his back on John's room and walked away.

I was the two days later and Hoffman went back to the crime scene. Several detective and officers were already there. There were bits and pieces of Lynn's skin still laying on the floor. John's bed was covered in blood. So was the floor where Amanda had laid. It was Amanda's blood. The blood he'd helped spill.

'Mark, you should be resting." Erickson told him.

"Where are the bodies?" Hoffman asked, ignoring Erickson's comment.

"They've been taken back to the lab. Dr. Hefner will be doing autopsy on them soon."

That only made Hoffman more angry. Erickson said he'd being doing autopsy on _them_. That meant all of them. Amanda too. He didn't like the thought of another man looking at her. She was _his_. No one else should even look at her, let alone touch her. He knew what happened in autopsy. Dr. Hefner would cut her open and dig around inside her. Then once he was done using her for his sick dissection project, who would claim her? Amanda had no family. No friends. There was him and John. That's all she cared about, and who cared about her.

"Mark, go home. Get some rest." Erickson said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Hoffman nodded reluctantly and left.

Back at his house he opened his fridge and pulled out a bottle on liquor. It was old, and he didn't even care what it was. He gulped it down and sat on his sofa.

_This is all a bad dream, right? _He thought. _I'll wake up tomorrow morning wrapped in Amanda's arms. Her big brown eyes will be happy and alive. Then she'll go give John his medicine and I'll go to work. I'll pretend to be surprised when they discover a new Jigsaw victim. Then I'll go back and help Amanda with the traps, then it will all start over._

He was certain that's what would happen. But when he woke up the next morning, the only thing in his hands was and empty liquor bottle. He was mad at himself and he threw the bottle against the wall. It shattered, spraying glass over his carpet.

Amanda wouldn't want him to start drinking. If she were alive, she'd probably give him shit about it. Tell him he's weak, laugh at him a little. Then she'd feel bad and give him a kiss. That's the way he liked it.

He got up angrily from the couch, ignoring the pain in his neck and back. He stormed out the door and to his car.

He drove to the police station and walked downstairs to the morgue. Dr. Hefner wasn't there and he walked over and opened a few drawers. The third drawer he opened he found her. The bullet was still in her neck, blood was still splattered across her face. Her lips were slightly parted, and her eyes were closed. But she looked peaceful. At least to him, she did. Peaceful and beautiful.

"I'm so sorry, Amanda." He whispered to her. "John told me to, I didn't want to, but I…" He was cut off when he started crying. Tears soaked his face and he reached and touched her hair. He smiled sadly and pulled his hand back. Then he heard a door open and he quickly pushed the drawer back in.

"Detective Hoffman, can I help you?" Dr. Hefner asked. Hoffman quickly wiped his face and turned around.

"No. I was just looking for John Kramer." Hoffman replied.

"He's over here." Dr. Hefner said, opening another drawer. He pulled it out and Hoffman saw John. He glared at him.

_Are you happy now? _He thought to him. _You killed her. You fucking killed her. _John only laid there. His face emotionless.

"Detective Hoffman, are you alright?" Dr. Hefner asked. "You're crying." Hoffman wiped his cheek to realize there was a tear there.

"Fine," Hoffman replied. "Just tired." He turned and left quickly.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

The next few days were unbearable for Detective Hoffman. He had gotten his award which no longer mattered to him. Agent Perez had died, and now Strahm was investigating him. He'd went down to visit Amanda a few times. Her body still hadn't had an autopsy. Hoffman was beginning to hope she wouldn't have one at all. They did an autopsy on John and found a tape in his stomach.

"_Don't think you're going to walk away untested." _John had said on the tape. It reminded him of his and Amanda's conversation.

"_So, when's your test detective?" _She had asked him.

"_I don't need one." _

"_Oh yeah?"_

"_Yeah. Cause _I _don't take my life for granted." _Is what he'd told her.

_Bring it on, Old Man. _Hoffman thought after the tape was finished. _You've already caused me enough pain. There's nothing more you can do to me. _

Hoffman had just woken up on his couch, surrounded by empty liquor bottles again. He groaned he'd tried to stop his drinking, but couldn't. Amanda would've been disappointed. His phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Mark, it's Erickson. We've discovered something at the Jigsaw crime scene. You'd better come look at this."

"I'll be right there." Hoffman hung up his phone and walked to his bathroom. He looked in the mirror and sighed. He had purple bags under his eyes. He looked strained and tired. His head pounded, and he felt queasy. He combed his hair quickly and changed clothes. Then he left for the police station.

Once he got there he found Erickson and Strahm.

"Aren't you suppose to be in the hospital?" Hoffman asked Strahm.

"You both need to see this." Erickson said. He led them into his office and shut the door. "This is what we found." He held up a VHS tape. "Jigsaw taped everything. And for some odd reason this tape has sound. None of the others did."

Strahm and Hoffman each sat in a chair as Erickson put the tape in the TV. It came on. It was at an awkward angle. It was an overhead view. You could see John, and you could faintly see the wall closing next him. Hoffman knew that's when he had made his escape. Amanda had pushed Lynn in and the story began.

They watched the whole thing. Lynn panicking when Amanda put the collar on. John's freak attack. The surgery. Hoffman hated every part of it. Amanda cried. He wanted to, too. Then _it _happened. Amanda shot Lynn. He forced himself to watch as Amanda coughed blood onto the floor next to John. And John just sat and watched her die.

_Do something, you fucking bastard! _Hoffman wanted to yell at John. He bit his lip. A tear ran down his cheek but he didn't care. Then he heard it.

"Mark…." Amanda gasped as she was dying. "I…love….you." He couldn't breath. No one else in the room seemed to understand, or grasp what she said. No one except him. She had said she loved him.

_So she knew. _Hoffman realized. _She knows I didn't do it to hurt her. _He realized he was crying and he quickly wiped his eyes. Once the tape stopped he'd missed the end of it. Everything was a blur after Amanda had died.

"Mark, are you alright?" Erickson asked. Hoffman nodded.

"Yeah. I'm just really tired." Hoffman lied, then faked a yawn.

"Why did Amanda Young become upset and kill Lynn Denlon in the first place?" Strahm wondered out loud. His voice was scratchy and soft.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps she didn't want to help Jigsaw anymore." Erickson said.

"Of course she did!" Hoffman blurted out without thinking. The both looked at him skeptically. "I mean, what else would she have? She's the one who made the unwinnable games. Maybe she couldn't stand to see a test subject get away." They contemplated this for a moment.

"Perhaps." Was all Erickson said.

"Erickson, would you mind if I took this with me?" Hoffman asked. "I'd like to watch it a few more times." Erickson nodded.

Hoffman went back to the warehouse which was still a crime scene. No one was there and for a moment, he forgot about everything that had happened. He imagined Amanda walking out of her room and wrapping her arms around his neck and asking him why it took so long for him to get there.

He walked into Amanda's room which so far, had been untouched by the FBI. He picked up her pillow and inhaled her scent one last time. Putting the pillow back down he saw a mess on the floor. The metal box was lying upside down, it's contents spilled over the floor. He didn't even want to know what had been in the box.

Looked at her dresser. Her make up and hairbrush sat there, along with a razor blade. Dry blood on it. Amanda's blood. He picked up the blade and studied it. He remembered Amanda's scars. Her bruises. The marks from her drug addiction. He even remember the middle of the night, he'd watch her sleep. He could faintly see the scars on the side of her mouth. The reverse bear trap had done that to her. The scars were so faint, she probably didn't even know that they were there.

He put the blade back and left the warehouse. He had no desire to go back. Ever. It caused him too much pain.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Hoffman woke up the next morning. The previous night he had been able to avoid drinking. He knew that if he had died, he wouldn't have wanted Amanda to do drugs again. So, for her, he wouldn't drink. He rolled over in his bed. On his nightstand sat a picture of his sister. For once in his life, the picture made him angry. He had a picture of her, but not Amanda. True, there were pictures of her. But those were mug shots. Or pictures of her after she died. None of her smiling. There wasn't a picture that captured her beauty, or the way her skin glowed when she smiled. He got out of his bed and got dressed.

He turned on his radio as he ate breakfast. Then he heard a song he'd heard once before.

"_And if you came to me, when I was asleep, I would believe!" _The woman sang. _"As in a cheap movie, if you came to me, I would believe!" _Amanda was listening to this once before.

Hoffman had gone to the warehouse after work. Amanda's hair was still cut short. She listened to the radio as she worked on the traps. He turned off the radio on her.

"_Hey! What was that for?" _Amanda yelled at him. He laughed.

"_Adam was right when he called you a rockstar." _He told her. She seemed surprised.

"_How do you know about that?" _

"_You mumble it in your sleep." _

"_You watch me sleep?" _His attempt to embarrass her backfire.

"_uh, no. Um.." _Amanda had laughed at him. He glared at her, but she only smiled.

"_I can't believe you." _She laughed.

"_Hey, I was going to leave! Then I heard you." _He lied.

"_Suure you were." _Amanda joked.

Hoffman remembered that day clearly. He wished he could have it back. He wished he could have a lot of days with Amanda back.

"_I have never asked for this, if I could have one spooky wish, I'd wander through, cold, darkened rooms. And wait for you, to find me." _The woman sang. Hoffman suddenly lost his appetite. He dumped his cereal into the garbage and walked to his living room. He began picking up empty liquor bottles and pieces of glass.

"Ouch!" He cried as the piece of glass cut his hand. He looked at the blood spill from his hand onto the carpet. He watched for a moment and realized what Amanda found so relieving about spilling your own blood. He took the piece of glass and cut his hand again and smiled.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Hoffman was on his way to the police department while going over multiple things in his head. Perez was alive. Strahm was dead. He still wasn't over his emotional loss. Amanda still came to him in his dreams. Losing her was harder than losing his sister. Though he didn't know why. He'd watch the tape over and over again, just to hear her say she loved him.

He walked into one of the rooms to find Erickson and Perez. Both of them working at a computer. Erickson got up and shook his hand.

"Thanks for coming in." Erickson said.

"What'd you find?" Hoffman asked.

"An abnormality in Strahm's fingerprint." Erickson explained. "Take a look." Hoffman hurried around Perez's desk and looked at the computer.

"So, the human fingerprint leaves and oily residue, depending on how long it's exposed to the elements, it's highly susceptible to contamination." Perez explained.

"So what's the problem?"

"We found trace amounts of helomethane R12." She said.

"She means freon." Erickson translated.

"Production of R12 was ceased in 1994. So, the question is, was the contaminant at the crime scene already or did Strahm bring it in with him?" Perez wondered.

"We're looking into the building's function, before it was abandoned." Erickson said, obviously pleased with their new find. The phone rang and Erickson went to answer it.

"Did you find anything in the Seth Baxter tape?" Hoffman asked.

"Uh, yeah. Actually." She replied. "We might be onto something. The tape was in pretty rough shape when we found it. But we were able to authenticate it. The voice was intentionally distorted. But, it didn't match John Kramer's. It's currently being analyzed."

"For what?" Hoffman asked.

"Well, we're trying to descramble the tape. To find the original voice. He's on with the tech right now." She nodded to Erickson.

"You timing something?" She asked. "Your watch."

"Oh, yeah, I was before I got your call. Yeah." Hoffman lied.

"We got it." Erickson said as he hung up the phone. "This is our smoking gun. The lab's off site. Common." Perez got up and followed. "You're coming, right?"

"Of course." Hoffman replied as he followed them.

"How's it going?" Perez asked as they got to the lab.

"Good." The woman replied. She was running over voices from the tape.

"This is it." Erickson said to Hoffman.

"Whoever made this tape had access to some very impressive audio filtration equipment." The woman said.

"Right now, you're feeling helpless." The voice repeated. It was his voice. Hoffman's voice. Only, they didn't know it yet.

"Fortunately, we have some tricks of our own her." The woman said. Hoffman tensed a little. "We can turn his algerithm upside down, and let us here what he really sounds like."

"Let us here whatcha got." Erickson said. Hoffman walked around impatiently. Perez watched him closely.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"You seem a little, preoccupied." She explained.

"I'm just anxious about the tape." He told her.

"Ya know, there's still a couple of things I can't wrap my head around." Perez said. "Like, I don't understand Strahm's motivation. He was my partner for five years. I mean, we all knew he was a bit of a hothead, but I never saw any indication of phsycotic behavior."

"Ya never can really tell when someone's falling on the inside." Hoffman said. Perez and Erickson gave him a strange look. He walked over and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Here that?" The woman asked, obviously finding something. "We're getting there."

"Common, I thought you had something to show us." Erickson said.

"Yeah, it's just I never really thought about him as being vengeful." Perez continued on the Strahm topic. "I mean, all the facts are there, but something doesn't sit right." Hoffman knew she was onto him.

"It's getting closer." The woman said.

"You know, there is an alternative." Erickson said. "Let's say Strahm killed Seth Baxter to set you up as an accomplice to Jigsaw."

"Okay." Hoffman said, setting down his coffee.

"But there's a problem with that though." Erickson continued. "On further analysis of Strahm's fingerprints, it was found that the uric acid levels were inconsistent with someone with an active epidermal metabolism."

"In other words?" Hoffman picked up his coffee again.

"In other words, when we lifted his fingerprints from the latest victim, Strahm was already dead." Erickson said.

"Erickson," The woman called. "There it is!"

"Right now your feeling helpless." His own voice echoed back to him. Hoffman acted quickly. He grabbed a knife from his pocket and cut Erickson's throat. He splashed his hot coffee in Perez's face as she tried to draw her gun. He jammed his knife into some electrical hook ups, making an alarm go off. He grabbed the woman used her as a human shield as Perez shot three times at him. He pushed the woman against the wall the grabbed Perez.

He stabbed her repeatedly in the stomach, she cried out in pain.

"Who else knows about me?" He asked, digging the knife into her stomach. She put her hand on his face.

"Everyone!" She gasped.

"You lie!" He said. "You fucking lie!" He pulled the knife out and watched her sink to the ground. He threw him knife on the ground and left. He got to his car and opened the trunk. He opened the freezer and took out Strahm's hand. He went back to the lab.

He touched the hand to the gun and a few other things. Then poured gas around the whole lab. He lit a whole pack of matches and threw them onto the floor. He watched the lab burn, for only a second.

**A/N: ****Sorry, I realize that I made A LOT of spelling mistakes. But I'm not sure how to spell somethings, and others, I couldn't exactly tell what the say in the movie. So bare with me, thanks. **


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Hoffman got back to the building quickly. He went in and took off his gloves. There was only a matter of minutes before this game was over. He looked at his computer and realized something on his keyboard. It was a letter written by him. The letter that led to Amanda's death. The letter that should never have been written. Many memories suddenly flew into his head as he sat down to read it.

"_Get used to me, cause I'm not goin anywhere." _

"_Adam was right when he called you a rockstar."_

"_You watch me sleep?"_

"_Mark…I…love…you." _

He remembered her. He remembered how he liked to try and piss her off for his amusement. He remembered how the sides of her mouth twitched when she tried not to smile. He remember what she smelled like. How soft her hair was. How peaceful she looked in her sleep. The way he kissed him. How much he cared about her.

_No, no, no, this can't be happening. _He thought. _How'd this get here? _

He heard the door open behind his and suddenly he felt a bolt of electricity.

"_Mark! Mark, wake up you fucking idiot!" _He heard Amanda's voice screaming to him. _"Mark!" _Her words echoed. He opened his eyes. There was something heavy on his head. He was strapped to his chair. Jill Tuck was standing in front of him.

"John left you, five envelopes." She said. "The sixth one, was for me." she pulled something out of the envelope and showed him. His own face starred back at him. "This is John's will." She said. She starred at the monitors for a second. The boy pulled the lever to 'Die'. Hoffman struggled against his restraints as Jill turned to leave.

"Game over." She said. Then closed the door. She timer activated on the thing on his head. He knew what it was now. It was Amanda's trap. Amanda's game. The thing on his head was a reverse bear trap.

"No!" Hoffman called after Jill. "No! You fucking bitch!" The timer clicked in the back of his head. He had no way of escaping. He was going to die there.

_Tick, tick, tick _The timer counted down. More memories rushed into his head. Memories of his sister, Angelina. Memories of Amanda. Memories of his parents. Of John. He couldn't stop them. Until he reached a memory of Amanda. They were outside. He had been teasing her that she needed to get out. So she did. They went out the night to a nearby park. Amanda liked the risk. They sat on the grass by the pond and talked. She looked beautiful in the moonlight. They had laid back and stared at the stars. She had fallen asleep in his arms. That's when he realized how he'd truly felt about her.

_Tick, tick, tick _he knew he didn't have much time. He realized then what he wanted.

He didn't want to go on anymore. He didn't want to stay without Amanda. He didn't want to feel the guilt anymore. The pain was too much. What he wanted was Amanda.

_Tick, tick, tick _He realized he only had a matter of seconds. He filled his mind with memories of Amanda. He'd always thought that his sister would be the last happy thought he'd want to have. But now he realized it wasn't. The last thing he'd want to think about was Amanda.

_Amanda, I'm so sorry. _He thought. _Please forgive me. I love you. _

The reverse bear trap snapped opened. It was over. It was all over.

**N/A: ****Okay, I realize that this is not how the real ending of Saw happened, but this seemed cool and romantic. If you had enough patients to read through 30 chapters, I say thank you. And please review this and tell me what you thought. I love getting reviews. Thank you so much. **


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